10 Years, 13 Years and Counting
by anbu-kakkashi
Summary: So this started as a Gray x Lucy x Natsu story. A one-shot, they call it? Anyhow, this does not have a happy-ish(?) ending so if you don't like sad stories, then you shouldn't read this one.


**My first Fairy Tail one-shot! It started off as a Gray x Lucy x Natsu sort of thing, but here it is! Enjoy!**

* * *

Just another ordinary day.

The guild was as loud as ever, with people shouting, running around, and with others just drunk in broad daylight, not having a care about what people thought about them. I sat at the bar talking to Mira, who was cleaning some dishes. But throughout our whole conversation, I kept getting distracted, because there was a big piece that was missing in this guild.

Excusing myself, I left the guild early and wandered around Magnolia, having no particular destination. While walking, I found a vending machine and decided to buy a bottle of water; like I would've done any other regular day.

But today wasn't a regular day.

Today, Lucy hadn't been at the guild for the fourth week in a row. At first, I thought it would only be a one week thing. Maybe the flu or something. But four weeks! When I tried calling her, she didn't pick up. When I stopped by her house, she didn't answer the door. Was it the anniversary of her parent's deaths? No. That was half a year away. So why was she skipping going to the guild for such a long time?

Sighing, I fished out a dollar bill from my pocket and fed it into the machine. Oh well. Maybe she just needed time to herself. I thought and punched in the code for a bottle of water. The machine started to whir and I watched as the coil spiraled and sent the bottle down to the tray.

_Bzzz._

Feeling my phone buzz in my back pocket, I took it out and answered. "Hello?" These things were pretty new, the phones. The wizards who made the communication lacrima had found a way to compact them into flat, little packages for people to carry around. Everyone at the guild had one of these now.

"Gray, it's me." My eyes widened at the sound of the familiar voice. But it also made me worried that it was rough and scratchy, not the way it usually was like.

"Hey, Lucy." I said and picked up the bottle of water from the machine. "Where were you for the last month? We missed you at the guild."

It was a while before she responded and for a moment I thought she had hung up on me. "Gray, I-I…" She paused before continuing. "I-I'm going to kill myself."

I froze, still standing near where the vending machine was. The cap on the bottle was off, water spilling out due to an uncontrollable shaking. "Wh-what did you say?"

On the other end, I could hear her gasping for breath; crying, maybe? "I'm going to k-kill myself!" She cried between sobs.

"Oh my God." I muttered, dropping the bottle on the ground, getting water spilled all over my pants and having people staring at me like I was crazy. "Don't do anything, just wait for me, ok?" Her house was only five blocks away. I could run there, but I'd have to stall her.

"I already have the gun." The tension inside of me rose even higher and I willed myself to run faster.

Gripping the phone tighter to my ear, I asked, "Lucy, where did you get that?"

"It was something that my dad passed on to me when he died." She said, hiccupping. "This was the only way I could think of!"

Four blocks. "Lucy, what made you want to do this?"

Another long pause. "Natsu."

I clenched my jaws tighter, thinking, Natsu, that bastard! "What did Natsu do?"

"It's him! And Lisanna!" She yelled, sobbing at the same time too. "When she came back from Edolas, everything began to be about her! He forgot all about me! All about our promises! And it's not just Natsu! Everyone forgot about me. I was always all alone, watching everyone want to talk with her from the corner! It was as if I never existed!"

Three blocks. "Lucy, it's going to be ok." I said, trying to hide the shakiness in my voice. "Just wait for me, alright?"

"How?"

Two. "I don't know. It's just gonna be."

"Liar."

One. "Lucy, I'm almost there. Wait for me!" I yelled, causing a few people to look over in curiosity.

I heard a click as she said, "I have my finger in the trigger."

My eyes widened, heart racing, as I pushed myself to run faster and faster. "No! Wait, Lucy! I-"

"I'm sorry, Gray."

I was right in front of her house now, if only I could make it inside in time…

_Bang._

I heard the gunshot, the sound echoing through my ears; from both the phone and standing outside her house.

_Lucy! _I wanted to scream. _Come back! Lucy!_

I stared, wide eyed, up at her bedroom window, where I swore I saw a hint of red splattered on the windows.

Why wasn't anyone coming? They should've heard the gunshot. There were hundreds of houses around here!

With my whole body trembling, I felt something hot and wet slide down my cheek, soon joined with another. My arms hung lifelessly by my sides, my phone sliding out of my numb fingers and dropping to the ground.

"Gray?" Turning my head ever so slightly, I saw Natsu coming my direction. Alarmed at seeing tears streaking down my face, he stopped where he was and stared at me. "Man, what's up with you? Why are you crying?"

Seeing him in front of me made an abrupt hatred burst inside of me, growing and growing even more from just staring at him.

"Natsu!" I yelled as I ran towards him and punched him full in the face. "You bastard!"

He fell back against the pavement, rubbing his sore cheek. "What the hell was that for!?" He yelled, glaring up at me.

"Lucy's dead!" His eyes widened. "Killed herself! And it's your entire fault!"

With tears still streaming down my face, I glowered down at Salamander. "You killed her, Natsu!"

* * *

It was raining on the day of the funeral. It was as if Mother Nature herself was mourning Lucy's death. Or it was Juvia's mood that was affecting the weather. I liked to think the first option.

But whatever the cause of the rain was, it didn't matter. Lucy was gone from our lives. Forever.

And it had been my fault.

I had never meant to make Lucy feel so lonely. I was so excited and caught up with Lisanna being back that I never noticed the silent cries for help that she gave out.

At the funeral, I stood quietly to myself, not wanting to talk with anyone. I'd just caused the death of a fairy. How could I ever face them?

_Lucy!_

I took away their sunshine.

_Let's go on a job together!_

Forever.

* * *

Everyone had left, leaving me alone in front of the grave.

I stared down at the name carved into the stone, the Fairy Tail insignia carved right above. At my feet was a mound of bouquets; all so beautiful and fitting to be laid down at her grave.

So maybe I really was cold, like the magic that I used. Throughout the whole funeral procession and ceremony, I hadn't shed a single tear. But when everyone had left me alone and I started to think about her, I couldn't help but tear up. She was gone. Her smile, her warm brown eyes and golden hair. The cheerful air that she gave the guild. All gone.

"Lucy…" My shoulders started shaking up and down as tears started to fall down my face, dropping to the ground with the rain. Feeling a sudden agony in my chest, I fell on my knees and gripped the ground with my hands, getting dirt squeezed between my fingers and into my nails.

"Lucy!" I screamed, sobbing. "Lucy, Lucy!" I shouted her name over and over again, hoping that somehow, this was all a really bad dream. That I'd wake up in the guild with everyone laughing their heads off, with Natsu challenging Erza to a fight. With nobody crying, nobody sad. And most of all, with Lucy back, smiling and laughing along with everyone else.

_"No! Wait, Lucy! I-"_

_"I'm sorry, Gray."_

If I had finished that one sentence, would Lucy have thought twice? If I had finished that one sentence, would she be back with all of us in the guild? Would she be alive?

The rain poured steadily on, reminding me that this was reality and there was no changing it.

"Lucy, I-I…" Even now, I still couldn't finish it.

"I-I loved you."

* * *

The guild was never the same afterwards.

Cana sat by herself on a table, her barrel of booze sitting untouched.

Levy sat to herself, reading over and over again the promised novel that Lucy had written.

Gray no longer stripped.

It rained all the time now, due to Juvia.

Mirajane never smiled again.

Elfman sat quietly to himself, no longer saying "manly" things.

Lisanna never seemed to be herself again.

Happy never said "aye".

Master just sat on the counter, downing bottles after bottles of alcohol. Nobody seemed to stop him. He didn't want to stop.

Wendy would burst into tears at random times during the day with Carla always comforting her when she did so.

I had caused this. This abnormality in the guild, this feeling of sorrow. We never partied, danced, sang, or laughed. It was silent.

The guild itself was dead.

And I was the killer.

* * *

It had been three years since the death of Lucy Heartfilia and the guild was slowly turning back to its normal self. It was going to take a while, but it was getting there.

However, Natsu had been absent at the guild for three full years. I checked up on him once in a while, to make sure that he was doing well.

But the thing was, he was never doing well.

He was always sulking in the tiny cabin that he and Happy lived in, never getting up to do anything. Just sitting there, staring down at the floor with blank eyes. Happy had tried to convince him to go back to the guild but after seeing no response, he left and was now living with Wendy and Carla.

Taking a deep breath, I stood in front of his front door and knocked. "Natsu it's me. I'm coming in right now." I reached for the door knob, about to push it open when someone beat me to it. My eyes widening, I looked up to see Natsu standing in front of me, smiling and in a good mood.

"N-Natsu!" I stuttered, surprised at seeing such a sudden change in my friend. "What's going on? Are you ok now?"

He grinned that toothy grin and looked down at me. "What do you mean, Lisanna? I'm always ok!"

Suspicious of his sudden change in behavior, I gave him a look and stepped back. "Alright… Then do you want to go to the guild? Everyone misses you."

His smile faltered, and for a moment, he looked like he was going back to sulking again. But he smiled again right away and nodded. "Yeah!"

* * *

"Natsu's back!" Lisanna yelled first thing as we stepped into the guild. Everyone fell silent, staring at me with unbelieving eyes, and then-

"NATSU!" They all screamed and came running towards me.

"Natsu, you're back!" Happy yelled and flew into my arms, tears running down his face.

"Natsu-nii!" Romeo hugged me around the waist with a huge smile pasted to his face.

"Yo, Salamander! Good to have you back! Gihik!" Gajeel said and smirked.

"Natsu, you haven't read Lu-chan's novel yet, have you?" Levy shoved the many pages at my face and I took them and smiled, the thought of this being Lucy's work making me happy.

"Natsu, you're a man of all men!" Elfman roared and flipped over a table in excitement.

"Carla! Natsu-san is back! Isn't that wonderful?" Wendy squealed, hugging the white cat to her chest and jumping up and down.

"Hey Flame Brain!" Gray called across the guild. "Up for another fight?"

"Natsu!" I heard a familiar voice and flinched, knowing what was coming next. My head was slammed hard onto Erza's breastplate as she grabbed my it and gave me a "hug". "It's good to see you again."

I grinned, happy at seeing everyone smiling and laughing again. "It's nice to see everyone again!" I yelled at the top of my lungs and laughed. "It really is nice…" Tears threatened to spill over but I quickly wiped them away. Besides, this was supposed to be good bye, so I couldn't afford to ruin everyone's good mood. They didn't know anyway.

"Natsu?" Happy looked up at me with worried eyes. "Are you ok?"

Sniffing, I swallowed back more tears and smiled, nodding and reassuring him. "Yeah, Happy. I'm fine." I smiled even wider and pumped a fist in the air. "Let's have some fun!"

* * *

"Natsu, tadaima!" I yelled and strolled leisurely into the small cabin in the woods. Man, it'd been a while since I'd come home. "Do you have any fish?"

I froze still at what I saw in front of me. "Natsu…?"

* * *

It was all so terrible. Happy had come flying back to the guild after leaving for Natsu's place, waterfalls running down his blue face.

"Happy!" I had cried, surprised to see him back and not with Natsu. "What's wrong? Did Natsu do something again?"

"N-Natsu… He… He…!" He stuttered, trying to catch his breath. "He left this note behind!"

He quickly shoved a piece of paper in front of me, looking away. "I-I can't read so…"

Curious, I took it and read the scrunched up piece of paper. My eyes grew wide, and tears sprung to my eyes as I read it.

"Mira?" Gray asked, sitting down at the bar. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head and gave the note to him, silent tears running down my face. "We've lost another fairy…"

* * *

_Hey everyone!_

_I'm going to find Lucy right now and I won't be seeing you all for a while. But we'll see each other eventually, don't worry! I'll tell Lucy how much everyone misses her and how much we want her back. Fairy Tail was never really the same without her, huh?_

_Erza, when I find Simon, I'll tell him all the good news that happened. Like Jellal being a good guy and you living your life to the fullest! I'll tell them all about what Sho, Millianna, and Wally did on their adventures around the continent._

_Gray, I'll find both Ultear and Ul for you. They're probably having fun together, like a mother and daughter should._

_Mavis should be there as well! I'll make sure to send her back to you guys once in a while to check up on you all. Make sure you guys are all doing fine._

_Maybe I'll find Éclair and Momon as well. Who knows? I bet they're already with Lucy, having fun and laughing their heads off._

_Stay well, minna! Don't be too sad, we're all going to see each other someday. But first, spend the rest of your time here and then come; don't jump the gun like Lucy and I did._

_I'll miss you all. I really will. But until then, sayonara!_

_Natsu Dragneel_

* * *

Ten years. It'd been ten years since Natsu died. Again, it took a while for the guild to face this, but it soon passed. People would stop by, asking where the infamous Salamander was. We always turned them away, telling them that he was off on a quest with the blonde Celestial Mage. We never did have the heart to tell them that their beloved Salamander's Exceed friend had found him hanging from the ceiling, his feet just inches from the floor.

"Mama, where are we going?" Riley complained. "I said that I'd play with Sam earlier, Mama."

"Hush!" Gajeel reprimanded him. "We're going to go see your Mama and Dad's friends. Today's a very sad day for her. Don't complain so much!"

I saw Riley shrink back in fear and put a hand on Gajeel's shoulder. "It's alright. He doesn't know."

Gajeel looked over at me and sighed. "Yeah, I guess." He kneeled down in front of Riley and said, "Sorry that Dad snapped at you. Today's not my day either." Riley only nodded, understanding that today was a hard day for the two of us.

"Well, we're here." I said and laid the two bouquets down on the two graves. "Lu-chan, Natsu, how are you two doing?" My voice cracked and I started to shake.

"Come on, son." I heard Gajeel murmur as he took Riley's hand. "Your Mama needs to be alone right now." They turned away and I silently thanked Gajeel. "Levy, make sure to come back soon, ok?" I nodded and they walked away, leaving me alone.

"The guild is doing well." I started that way. "Juvia is pregnant again. Gray and Sam are thrilled! But Sam's thrilled most of all, excited to have a younger sibling.

"Jellal joined Fairy Tail a few years ago and asked Erza's hand in marriage just last week. She accepted, of course. They're planning to get married next month. I've never seen her so happy before.

"Mira and Laxus got married. They got married right at the guild and man, it was sure a wedding! Nothing went right. But then again, how could anything go right when it comes to the guild members? Anyway, it was still a fun wedding. Elfman, Lisanna, and the former Master all cried but Elfman and Master denied it. But everyone saw! Right now, they have a son and a daughter; twins, in fact! They decided to name them after you guys. It teared a lot of them up but they're still happy.

"Haha, I called Master the former Master, didn't I? Well, it seems that Laxus took over the guild. But don't worry, he didn't try to kick us all out like he tried during the Battle of Fairy Tail. He's changed. He's changed ever since he was expelled and admitted back in.

"As you can see, I'm married to Gajeel now. We have a son, Riley." I smiled at all the memories that came back to me. "It's ironic, isn't it? How our first meeting was where he attacked Team Shadow Gear and pinned us up on a tree. And how we ended up married. Fate is a curious thing, isn't it?

"Happy's doing well, Natsu. In fact, he, Carla, and Pantherlily are going on requests all by themselves now! Mira decided to call them Team Exceed one day and the name stuck. He's really happy, you know. But at one mention of you, he breaks down into tears. He knows that he shouldn't be; he's nineteen, for God's sake! But he can't help it. He misses you, Natsu.

"Romeo and Wendy are now dating. They're so cute together! They almost remind me of you guys when you guys became partners. They go on missions together and Macao always flips out, thinking that they're doing something bad while they're gone. It's really funny. A lot of the guild members are telling them everyday to hurry up and get married now. I mean, they _are_ twenty-six and twenty-five. That's about when Gajeel and I got married so I think it's ok.

"Asuka's also doing jobs as well, although she just tags along with her parents. She's been itching to go on her own requests but Alzack doesn't allow it, although Bisca's wanted her to gain her own freedom. There's been multiple debates at the guild over the matter and we still haven't reached a conclusion yet. Typical Fairy Tail.

"I'm sorry. It's been ten years since I've come here, hasn't it? Sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to. Especially when you were here…" I paused. I'd said a lot, staring down at the two headstones. But I wasn't done yet.

"Lu-chan, Natsu, we…" I lost it. Hot tears cascaded down my cheeks and fell to the dirt on the graves in front of me. "We miss you all so much…!"

Ten years.

_"Hey Natsu, who's that?"_

Thirteen years.

_"Isn't that Levy?"_

Ten years since the death of Natsu Dragneel.

_"Oh my God! It is! It's Levy-chan!"_

And even three more years since Lu-chan had died.

_"Why is she crying?"_

Fairy Tail missed them, horribly.

_"Levy-chan! Don't cry! We're right here!"_

Turning my back towards the two graves, I headed towards the gate.

_"We never left you."_

I froze. What was that? Did I just hear something?

Turning around, I saw Lu-chan standing behind me, a hand on my shoulder. She was laughing, a smile twinkling in the big, brown eyes. Natsu was beside her, grinning his goofy grin.

_"Why do you miss us so much?"_ They were both fading away. _"After all, we've left never left you."_

Staring back at the two headstones, I smiled, reaching up with my hands to wipe my eyes.

"Stupid." I said to myself and headed back for the guild. "They were always with us."

Ten years, thirteen years, and counting.

* * *

**So how was it? Please, give me some reviews! They're very helpful for me when writing!**

**Thank you~! ^.^**


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